


teamwork dreamwork

by tsuluio



Series: the oc universe [4]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Fantasy AU, Gen, Nonbinary Character, Post Apocalypse AU, Team Dynamics, fighting arena type battle things, lone wolf trope, rumi work with them PLEASE, weird giant monster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22287133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuluio/pseuds/tsuluio
Summary: Rumi doesn't work in a team. But it looks like they're going to have to before they all die.
Relationships: Elliot (OC) & Rumi (OC) & Chase (OC) & Kyo (OC)
Series: the oc universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604218





	teamwork dreamwork

**Author's Note:**

> rumi and kyo belong to my best friend!! 
> 
> and this is kinda like an illegal system where you have to battle monsters to earn money yk idk

There are four of them in this cell. Rumi only has enough light to faintly see the outlines of the other occupants, but they know enough to be tense around them, even with the hushed whispers occuring between the other three.

The first one closest to their left is a hybrid of... something. Human? Fox? One of the two or both, it didn't matter. Rumi had seen how they had taken down their huge opponent almost instantly, leaving nothing behind as they practically ate the remains of their enemy. They looked young, maybe younger than them or about the same age but it was hard to tell from the constant smile on their face. They're practically jubilant to be earning money for blood, for throwing their life on the line. It's almost terrifying. Almost. Their pale face has the marks of a shapeshifter on it, clothes, although ratty and dirty, show signs of being more expensive and stylish than most are. Their body is tall and solid, and Rumi notes that, just in case they'd have to fight one another after this. They're probably not as strong as Rumi themself, but strong enough to pose an issue. Not to mention the fox thing.

The one sitting next to the fox-man-thing-child is someone that Rumi is pretty sure is at least part robot. Their hand fell off in the middle of battle and started emitting sparks. Instead of freaking out, the guy had just huffed in annoyance and snapped it back on, morphing it into a thin blade and killing their opponent instantly. Not to say they acted composed all the time. Rumi's pretty sure this guy is way more apprehensive about their cellmates than they themself are, especially after freezing up in battle and taking a pretty bad hit. Their build is shorter, body almost close to Rumi in size, but Rumi knows that simply punching them won't be good enough. Who knows what the hell their arm could morph into to defend themself. Rumi makes a mental note to evaluate the guy before rushing in. They didn't seem to do well under pressure.

The last one is human, and Rumi would dismiss them as not a threat if they hadn't seen their last battle only a few hours earlier. Wiry, thin, and short, the guy hadn't seemed to pose a threat for the first few minutes and got knocked to the ground twice before four spindly legs sprouted from their back and raised them in the air. It was short work of their opponent after that. Their expression hadn't changed the entire time and Rumi had to admit it was slightly unsettling, and made them want to do nothing more than punch them in the face. But they wouldn't be able to get close in battle. The weird metal attachments had a reach of the entire arena and Rumi would have to take out the arms to proceed. After that? Piece of cake.

But Rumi isn't here to fight them. And they aren't here to fight Rumi. The moderators of this little underground fighting arena decided that solo runs weren't enough and so gathered groups of four people to combat the huge hulking beast that was now stomping through the arena.

Stupid, but it paid a lot more than solos.

The fox-man-thing-child turns to face them eyes wide in excitement. "Looks like fun!"

They get no response; Rumi specifically turns away from them. They don't seem deterred anyway, and continue to talk. "My name's Kyo! Pronouns are male! I can turn into a fox so it can help me slip through things undetected and strike when they're not looking! What about you?"

There's a lengthy, awkward, almost embarrassing pause, before the robot guy speaks up. "I'm.. Chase. Pronouns are, uh, also male. I'm half robot so, uh, I guess it could help us with, uh, overloading something with electricity, or, uh, my arm turns into whatever the hell I want it to, so that's fun?"

Kyo cheers. "Nice to meet you, Cha-se!"

Chase, for some reason, flinches. If Rumi didn't know better, they'd think he's blushing. "Nice to meet you too?"

Kyo smiles widely and turns to the other human. "What about you?"

"I'm Elliot." The guy's voice matches their expression: flat and disinterested. "Same pronouns, and I use appendages to fight, which I made myself. I won't be helpful in hand to hand since I can't really match up physically, but it's worth something."

The kitsune nods eagerly and turns to Rumi. "And what about y--"

"Rumi," they say bluntly. "Neutral pronouns."

Kyo waits for more, but they sure as hell aren't going to elaborate. This is fucking stupid anyway. They might have to fight each other at some point and revealing their strengths and weaknesses to each other is a bad idea. The other seems to have given up on Rumi's answer and moves on. "Ok! Nice to meet you, Ru-mi, Elli-ot!"

Elliot offers a slight nod in return. His glasses reflect the light streaming from outside the cell, which is quickly blocked by a guard, accompanied with the familiar jangle of keys. 

"You four." The guard's voice is gravely and deep. "You're up." 

The door swings open and they're greeted to the sounds of the cheering crowd and the snarls from the beast within. Kyo bounces ahead, grinning to the guard. "Okay, thank you!"

Chase rises and follows with much less enthusiasm, Elliot unfolding himself from the floor and walking out as well. Rumi groans before following.

God, they're not ready for working with these fucking idiots. They probably suck anyway.

\--

The beast is nine feet at the very _ least _ with sharp bits everywhere Rumi can see. It's a hulking brute of glistening muscle and saliva, and when its mouth opens to roar at them, Rumi notes the mouthful of teeth. That, and the spittle flying all over their face.

Disgusting.

They can see Chase's arm morph into something akin to a ray gun out of the corner of their eye, Kyo bouncing on the balls of his feet with absolutely no weapon except the claws protruding from their fingers, and Elliot's weird spider things raising him off the ground. The beast roars and the whistle blows, the rope keeping it in place snapping in two. 

And suddenly Rumi is facing the brunt of the beast as their newfound teammates scatter. 

"Rumi!" Chase yells. "Get out of the way!"

The beast growls at Rumi and they ready themself. Three meters. Two. One.

In one motion, they jump, hurling themself at the monster's mouth with all their might, drawing a fist back and striking it in the nose. The monster barely flinches and instead straightens, leaving Rumi to scrabble at its body to grasp a foothold. They're now hanging several feet off the ground by this slippery, moving opponent. Kyo yelps.

"Ru-mi! We'll get you down, hang on!"

And before Rumi can tell him that they can handle themself, Chase appears from nowhere, fires, and the beast rears back, Rumi's grip slipping from its chest. Their heart flies into their throat as they fall before suddenly coming to an abrupt stop only a foot above the ground and are met by Elliot's gaze before the other drops them to the ground and moves over them, appendages clicking as they hit the ground.

Rumi glares after him.

Kyo is now dancing circles around the monster, Chase switching to a longer gun to get a better charge from it. His original blast had left electric sparks dancing around the monster's right eye and it screeches, the sound loud enough to push Kyo back a few feet. A massive fist flies towards the stunned kitsune and Chase manages to rip off a huge blast of electricity, forcing the monster back with another screech. The recoil sends him back a few feet to stand next to Rumi, and he looks down at them. "You gotta work with us to kill it! This isn't a--"

"You were the one who fired when I was on there," Rumi retorts, getting to their feet. There's another roar in the background; Kyo is back on his feet and busy taunting the beast as Elliot manages to rip off a good chunk of its flesh when it tries -- and fails -- to smash Kyo. Irritation blooms at the robot's chastising. How couldn't they see that Rumi could handle themself? They didn't  _ need _ help.

Chase shakes his head but backs off. "You were gonna fall anyway, but okay."

As he joins the fight again, Rumi watches as he charges up another blast, but instead aiming at... Elliot? What the fuck?

Without thinking, they charge back in, shoving Chase's arm so it aims at the opponent. Chase, caught by surprise, stumbles and releases the blast and it strikes the beast in the face, making it howl in pain. He whips around to face Rumi. "What was that?"

"What was  _ that _ ?" Rumi responds, gesturing wildly. "Why were you gonna fuckin' hit him? I thought you said we had to work together?"

There was no way they were going to work with the three of them; it just seems like a good way to use the robot's words back at him.

Kyo bounds over to them, grin fading from the arguing. "It was a team effort, Ru-mi. It's a textb-ook move: Cha-se charges an ele-ctric blast and hits Elli-ot's arm things with the right amount so Elli-ot has a charged sharp object! It deals more damage that way." He tilts his head hopefully at Rumi, but Rumi just rolls their eyes. It sounds like a moronic move.

"And you figured this out when?"

"Just now!" The kitsune smiles, and Rumi grunts. 

"Yeah, but tell me when you actually--"

"Nevermind about that!" Chase yells, catching both of their attentions. "I think that shot made it real fucking mad!"

The beat had recovered from the initial shock of the blast and is now bearing down on the trio. An arm swings down at their faces at an alarming rate and Rumi wonders if they'll die here. Elliot comes into existence suddenly and slices upwards with two of his appendages, leaving two fresh gashes on the monster's arm. It shrieks and retreats again, but only to lob three spikes from its back at them.

Chase swears loudly and raises his arm to fire one projectile out of the air. Elliot intercepts the other and Kyo nudges Rumi aside, who is startled enough to reach up and  _ catch  _ the spike.

They stare, dumbfounded at the spike only inches from their chest, Chase and Elliot watching them. Kyo is grinning. "Nice catch, Rumi!"

Rumi has about two second to collect their thoughts before anger settles in. They drop the spike with a clank. "What the fuck? What the fuck was that?"

Kyo takes a step backward, looking scared now. "Y-You caught it! That's good!"

"Yeah, but what if I didn't? I would've  _ died _ ."

Kyo shakes his head. "Elli-ot had watched your fight, Ru-mi. You would've been able to catch something moving much faster! He told me so earlier."

"And what if he was wrong? What if he wanted me to actually die?"

"This is a team effort." It's the first time Elliot has spoken since the start of the battle. "We don't sabotage each other in the arena, Rumi."

Rumi huffs at him. "You could be lyin', anyway. I don't trust you.  _ Any _ of you. You, the freakish robot man--" they gesture sharply at Chase, who falters, "--stupid cheerful kitsune--" they point to Kyo, who suddenly doesn't look that cheerful, "and you, the creepy emotionless  _ bitch _ ." Rumi jabs a finger at Elliot. "I know what you're all capable of, and if you don't think--"

"Watch out!" Kyo suddenly cries and turns to fox form as the others look up to see another fist coming from above, the beast apparently taking advantage of their distraction. Rumi has no time to react, but one of Elliot's appendages strikes them in the shoulder, shoving them out of the way, Chase firing upwards and keeping the fist back a millisecond enough for Elliot himself to get out of the way. The human is just reaching in to help the other when the fist recovers and crashes down on the robot, sending him flying backwards, kicking up dust.

The crowd roars in approval.

Elliot mutters a curse word and moves to Chase's side, who is still somehow conscious and struggling to sit up, sparks erupting from his chest. Kyo returns to them in fox form and morphs back into a human, panic evident on his face. "Cha-se! Are you okay?"

Chase opens his mouth and all that comes out is a stream of code. Realizing he can't properly communicate verbally, he offers a thumbs up instead and Kyo beams. Elliot turns to look at the kitsune. "He should be fine in a few, but he's low on electricity because of that hit. If we weren't arguing..."

He pauses there and though he doesn't look at Rumi, they know he's talking about them. "Shut up, Elliot."

Elliot offers a shrug before turning back to battle. "Suit yourself being a loner and all that. Guess it really helps when you're on a team anyway."

Rumi doesn't realize until they're merely an inch away from Elliot that they're aiming a punch to murder the crap outta this jerk. It connects solidly and Elliot slides back in the dirt, appendages bending slightly to counter his weight, expression still blank, though now there's blood dripping from his cracked glasses. Kyo gasps. "Ru-mi!"

The crowd rumbles in confusion, and Rumi seethes, fists tightly clenched. "Look, I don't fuckin' care if you're supposed to be on the same team as me. I don't  _ need _ help for this shit, okay?"

The ground rumbles as the beast, momentarily forgotten, makes its presence known once more. Kyo shifts into fox form again and launches himself at the giant's legs, teeth and claws sinking into the skin and muscle. The beast shakes him off easily and he flees back to stand next to Elliot. The mechanic just shakes his head, specks of blood landing on the dusty floor. "It is not about help, Rumi. It is about life or death. You are insane to think you can handle this on your own."

"Yeah!" Kyo pipes up. "We all need to work together or we all.. we all die!"

As if on cue, the beast roars again and swipes a huge hand at them. Kyo gets knocked off his feet and slams into the wall, sliding down to rest on the floor, either unconscious or stunned or dead, Rumi doesn't want to know. There's no indifference there, though, more concern, and it surprises them. Chase shouts something in code and suddenly he's standing again, arm turning back into a gun. Elliot manages to push it down with an extended appendage. 

"Chase, you do not have enough electricity to stay conscious for another blast. I suggest using a sword and projecting energy into that."

"And slice where?" Chase asks as they all dodge the monster's next blast of spikes, purposefully moving away from Kyo's prone form.

Rumi studies the monster's form. It's too large for them to get a clear headshot or anything and their chest is too massive, so maybe...

"Elliot, do you think you can get the fucko monster thing to bend down?"

Elliot raises an eyebrow behind his glasses -- probably at Rumi's suddenly inclination to teamwork -- but nods. "What are you planning."

"I'll launch Chase onto its head so he can slice its face off. Chase, charge that fucker up as much as you can and force it into any part of its face. Ready?"

Chase nods hesitantly, and the trio square off as the beast looms above them.

Elliot moves forward, appendages spiralling into chainsaws, and he starts to literally saw at the beast's legs. There's an echoing howl of pain as the thing reaches down to bat Elliot away, but he simply moves backwards and continues. A sharp snap indicates that Chase's arm is fully charged; it has changed into a thick, heavyset blade, wicked sharp on the edges.

"Now!"

Rumi grabs Chase by the waist -- he's heavier than expected, but it's probably all the metal -- and hefts him upwards as far as they can throw. The robot flies through the air and as the beast lifts its own head to meet him, he drives the sword point blank through the monster's eye, a sickening snap lost in the cheers of the crowd as the sword pierces through bone. At the same time, Chase releases the stored charge and a huge burst of electricity explodes from the eye socket, illuminating the arena in a flash of light. The monster wails and falls backwards, Elliot skittering out of the way as it collapses on the ground. Its arm rises to push itself back up, blood spilling from its eye, but Rumi slams their own hand into it, knocking it back down, loosening Chase and sending him back across the arena floor, somehow landing on his feet.

Elliot's chainsaws turn larger and he directs them at the monster's neck while Rumi busies themself with knocking over various body parts as the beast desperately tries to pick itself back up. Blood is getting everywhere: all over Elliot, Rumi, the beast's face, the dirty floor, the audience. The cheers increase in volume as Elliot manages to slice through the tendons and the carotids, leaving the monster a motionless mass of flesh and bone. His appendages are badly damaged from the strain, but he's alive, Rumi's alive, Kyo's getting back up, and Chase.... just collapsed. Elliot waves it off and Rumi takes it that the robot will be fine. He probably just has to recharge or whatever robots do. 

But they did it.  _ They did it _ . And though it's the first time Rumi has ever worked in a team... it wasn't that bad. Kinda. Maybe.

Elliot offers them a faint smile as they're ushered out of the arena, Kyo rushes up to them to give them a tentative hug, and Chase, still unconscious, is lying face down on the ground, but Rumi's pretty sure he'd react positively to them being victorious. 

"Wasn't that fun?" Kyo chatters as they walk back to collect their money. "You were great, Ru-mi! Pulling that plan out? The best!"

Rumi just rolls their eyes again, but they're smiling. Not. Totally not smiling. 

And sure, maybe it was fun, and maybe they'd do that again, but never with these three. They sucked ass.

Not really.

They were  _ okay _ at least.

Yeah.

Okay.

"It was okay," they tell Kyo, who looks like the world has been handed to him on a silver platter. Or rather, gold like the coins gripped in his claws. Elliot's the one who responds for him.

"Good."

Okay, maybe it  _ was _ pretty good. 

But Rumi'd rather be paired up with stupid random people again before ever admitting that.


End file.
